[Python-Dev] s1 == (sf % (s1 / sf))? A bad idea?

[Jeremy Hylton]

>>>>> "SM" == Skip Montanaro <skip@pobox.com> writes:

  Jeremy> I imagine something like this:

  Jeremy> import fileinput import scanf

  SM>     ...

  SM> Placing the functionality in a module is fine as well, but
  SM> again, "scanf" only means something if you've programmed in C
  SM> before.  I suspect there are college students graduating from CS
  SM> departments now who have used C++ but not C and wouldn't have
  SM> the slightest idea what "scanf" means.

I don't care much about the name.  scanf is fine with me ("scan with
format") but so is "scan" -- or "parrot."

I do care about it being based on a module rather than a builtin
operator or a string method.  I see scanf-based scanning as roughly
equivalent to regular expressions, which live happily in a module.

If we're going to add a scan method to strings, I can imagine people
wanting "\d+".re_match() and "\d+".re_search() methods on strings,
too. 

Jeremy